


his happy ending

by flyingonfeatherlesswings



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Bonding, Domestic Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Naruto's Sad Childhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-09 00:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17396375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingonfeatherlesswings/pseuds/flyingonfeatherlesswings
Summary: Boruto Uzumaki is less than enthused when a film about his father's heroic deeds is released. He ends up dragged to it despite his protests and learns some upsetting details about his father's early childhood.





	his happy ending

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so. I've only seen a few episodes of Boruto, and the movie. But I watched part of an episode where they have to guard some actors and they showed that Konaha has a thriving film industry so I'm thinking, "Uh if this was true to life in any way they'd be making films about their greatest hero right?" and VIOLA this happened. 
> 
> I had to reread a wiki article about the Gaara rescue arc so if I got anything wrong please tell me.

Boruto Uzumaki was in hell.

Throughout his life, the young boy had had to deal with his father’s fame and reputation. Adults had always treated him differently due to who his father was, they knew the stories and had lived through Naruto’s great deeds (had lived _because_ of Naruto’s great deeds). And while his peers acknowledged his background, they treated him more like the Hokage’s kid then the kid of some miraculous war hero. That he could live with.

But now that was all shot to hell, Boruto realized in horror, when one afternoon as he sat between Iwabee and Denki preparing to watch some action film, a trailer for an upcoming film started to play. The trailer started with a shot of the back of a teenage boy in shadow and a narrator spoke over:

_“Only once in a lifetime do we see such a hero arise.”_

Boruto had been interested, not immediately recognizing the character from any heroic themed show or film.

_“His feats of courage have become legendary, witnessed only by some.”_

Ah so it was a real life person? History was Boruto’s worst subject and some historical hero didn’t really intrigue him.

_“But now, you can personally experience how the greatest hero of our time came to be.”_

Boruto’s stomach dropped as Denki looked over at him, also realizing who the subject of the film must be.

The camera then turned and revealed that Boruto’s fears were correct as there stood a handsome (way too handsome in Boruto’s opinion) teenage actor in an orange and black jumpsuit, blonde spiky hair falling over a Konaha hitai-ate, black whisker marks drawn on his cheeks much more pronounced than in real life. The actor’s arms were crossed, but he then made eye contact with the camera and pointed, proclaiming, “I’m Naruto Uzumaki, you know! And I’m gonna be the greatest Hokage you’ve ever seen!” The screen then filled with the title of the film “Naruto Adventures: Rescue of the Kazekage” and then showed the release date before the screen fell black.

The next trailer started to play but Boruto was slumped in his seat, his hands covering his face. Iwabee turned to him, “Man, we are definitely going to see that.” Boruto ignored him but he heard Denki agree. Well he couldn’t stop his friends, and they already hero worshipped his father, but there was no way he was going to see this stupid film.

So much to his surprise he found himself months later sitting in prime seats waiting for the wrenched film to begin, surrounded by pretty much all of his friends and some of their families.

For weeks he had protested against the film, claiming that it was only going to be progangda and that it would exaggerate everything. “There’s already too many lies people believe about my dad,” Boruto had whined to his classmates, “This is just going to make everything worse.” But his friends would not be dissuaded, excitedly chatting about the film and keeping up with the latest trailers that were regularly released.

One classmate that could relate to Boruto’s plight was Sarada, who was not happy when one of the trailers revealed how her mother would be portrayed. The actress was...a bit curvier than the real life Sakura and her costume was a tad more revealing. Sarada said when she had shown her mother a picture from the film, the woman had looked conflicted, possibly torn between being flattered and being aghast that she was being shown as some sex symbol. Sarada said she just ended up looking quesy. Meanwhile, Metal was quite eager to see his father in action, claiming that they had made his father look almost as cool as he did in real life. His peers were nice enough to not correct him.

When Boruto had brought up the film, one night at dinner when his father had come early, Naruto had been obviously embarrassed. “Ah yeah that,” said the Hokage, scratching the back of his head, “I sorta kinda signed off on that accidentally? I was tired and it didn’t seem so important, they already write about what happened in history books and I thought that this was more of the same, so I just signed all the papers. And I guess because I’m the Hokage I was able to sign off on using everyone’s likeness. Sakura’s already given me hell about it.” The man went a little pale remembering his enraged teammate’s visit to his office.

“I want to see Daddy fight bad guys!” said Himawari excitedly.

“We’ll have to see how violent it is, dear, it might be a movie for older kids,” said Hinata. Himawari responded with a pout, her small shoulders slumping.

“Well, I hope it bombs,” said Boruto, reaching for a gyoza with his chopsticks. “I bet it’s boring and badly acted.”

Naruto smirked over at his son from across the table, “Afraid that there’ll be a million sequels and they’ll get to you eventually?” Boruto paused his eating in horror, not having thought of that possibility.

“Oh, do you think I’m in this one?” his mother helpfully changing the subject, “I wasn’t involved in rescuing Gaara, but Neji was. I saw pictures of the actor playing him, he looks good, though the contacts they have him wearing are pretty obvious.”

“I bet if they do make more, you will be. You’re the love interest! Oh and I bet they show me being all romantic and smooth, not at all like I was in real life,” said Naruto with a sigh.

Hinata leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “I’m not complaining.” Boruto rolled his eyes as his father’s face went red. Really you would think a couple wouldn’t be so gross after being married for 13 years.

But despite all of his protests, all of his objections to the whole affair, Boruto was still dragged to the cinema to sit in between his excited and chattering friends. “Come on!” said Iwabee, “If it’s as bad as you say it is, we’ll just make fun of it. And everyone will be talking about it, don’t you want to be in the know?” Eventually it took his friends promising to buy him burgers and snacks for the next month to get him to begrudgingly agree to go.  

Boruto still wore a hooded sweatshirt though, hiding his distinctive blonde hair. He was quiet as he listened to his friends chat, Inojin telling Shikadai that he didn’t think this parents were in the film. “Well my mom should be at least,” said Shikadai, “She was involved in my uncle’s rescue of course, though I didn’t see her or my other uncle in the trailers. They probably want to keep it focused on the heroics of the Leaf or something.”

“Ah, I guess it won’t be a popular film in the Sand then,” said Inojin with his usual easy smile.

“Nah,” said Shikadai, “Uncle Gaara adores Lord Seventh, he’ll probably make it mandatory to go see it or something.”

His friends had provided him with snacks, more bribes of course, but Boruto didn’t feel like eating, too anxious for the film to start. And when the opening credits began, he was eager to get this whole thing over with quickly.

The opening scroll told his father’s backstory, that of an orphaned boy with a demon locked inside of him. Boruto had known this about his father since he was young, his parents had sat him down and explained to Boruto about his father’s _friend_. But it hadn’t been relevant to him, for most of his life it just meant he occasionally caught his father talking under his breath to an unseen entity. Then the Chunin Exams had happened and Boruto had witnessed his father’s destructive power.

As the film went on, there were several scenes with showcasing Naruto using the power of the Nine Tails via special effects. Having witnessed the refined thing himself, Boruto was less than impressed, but he could tell the audience was enraptured by the film. The boy internally admitted that so far, the film was pretty good, if not sort of corny like he always thought it would be.

The action scenes were good though, focusing on familiar figures take on Deidara and Sasori. Sarada had refused to watch some 19 year old actress run around in a short skirt pretending to be her mother and hadn’t come, but Boruto made a note to remember to tell her that her mom had kicked ass, especially in the scenes against that puppet guy.

Then came the climactic moment when the team was facing Gaara’s dead body and the on-screen Naruto had a breakdown. Boruto had seen his father with the Kazekage and knew they were good friends, if this event had really happened like how the movie portrayed it, he could imagine how angry and upset his father had been. A sad flute started to play.

_“He was just like me. A jinchuuriki, all alone and hated.”_

Boruto’s breath caught at the grief in the actor’s voice as blue eyes, nowhere near his father’s actual vibrant shade of blue, were overwhelmed with tears.

The next shot was that of a little blonde boy, whiskers drawn on his chubby cheeks, all alone on a swing with other kids around him. A ball rolls up to his feet and the boy looks up to see some kids looking at him curiously, and the boy stands up to pick up the ball, a hopeful look in his eyes. The kids look among themselves and one of them speaks, not being able to look at the boy.

 _“My mommy said I’m not allowed to play with you. Take the ball, I have more at home, come on guys!”_ The kids then run off, leaving the boy to standing there looking crushed. He drops the ball dejectedly and walks off, his head hanging low and the theater is filled with the whispers of the passersby on screen.

_“There’s that brat again, be careful.”_

_“Stay away from that freak.”_

_“I wished he lived in a different area so we didn’t have to see him all the time.”_

The boy then gets to a worn-down apartment, coming in with a weak “I’m home.” He sits down on the small bed, and wraps his arms around himself, making a few choked noises before falling into sobs.

The scene then cuts back to the characters trying to revive Gaara but Boruto can’t concentrate on the rest of the film. He feels like he’s been punched in the gut, and he’s glad that he’s still wearing his hood because he’s sure that he looks shell shocked. The scene would’ve been terribly sad for anyone, and he notes that he can hear several sniffles around the theater, but knowing that little boy had been his father made something deep inside him ache.

The movie plays out triumphantly, with the Kazekage being revived by Chiyo’s sacrifice. The ending scene involves the Akatsuki’s plots, obviously a set up a sequel. One that will most likely happen considering the applause the film gets when the end credits start to roll. Boruto isn’t clapping though, sitting stock still as the lights come back up.

“Hey Boruto,” said Iwabee, “Your dad really kicked ass huh? And he wasn’t much older than me.” The boys were strolling out of the theater into the streets.

“Lord Seventh was amazing even back then!” proclaimed Denki.

“Yeah he really stole the show,” said Shikadai, “Though they did make my mom look pretty cool in that one scene.”

“It was overall very exhilarating,” said Mitsuki with his sly smile.

Boruto stayed silent as they continued to chat about the film, until they started to talk about where they wanted to go get food. “Uh, guys, I think I’m just gonna head home,” said Boruto.

“What?” asked Denki, “But we owe you so much food, you’re turning down _free food_?”

“Yeah, I’m not hungry, you guys go on without me, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow,” said Boruto. He was hungry, very much so, but his mind kept replaying that scene over and over. He couldn’t stomach the idea of having to laugh and joke around with his friends. He just wanted to go home and go to bed.

“But--” Denki started to protest, but Shikadai stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright Boruto, we’ll see you later.” Boruto gave his friend an appreciative smile and turned for home.

Instead of hopping across rooftops, Boruto took it slow, thinking over what he knew about his father’s childhood as he walked through the empty streets. He was aware of what had happened to his grandparents, and how his grandfather, the Fourth Hokage, had saved the village. He knew that his dad had grown up an orphan and it had been a fairly lonely experience, but what orphan wouldn’t be lonely? He hadn’t imagined that he had faced so much hostility from the villagers. His dad rarely told stories from his pre-Genin childhood, but when he did, it was mostly to recall some of the pranks that he pulled, and he always told those while laughing.

Boruto walked up to the house, not sure who was around and came inside yelling out “I’m home!” before going to take off his shoes. To his surprise his dad answered back, “Welcome home!”. Boruto walked into the living room to see his dad sitting at the kitchen table, scrolls laid out in front of him.

“Dad? What are you doing home?” asked Boruto.

“Eh, change of scenery, you know?” replied Naruto, “I just need to read over these for a meeting tomorrow, that’s all. I thought I’d bring them home, and your mom is having a girls night with Hanabi and your sister at the Hyuuga compound, you were out with friends so it’s been quiet. You’re back a bit early, huh? I didn’t expect you for a couple more hours.”

“I didn’t feel like heading out after the movie, is there food?” asked Boruto as he made his way towards the fridge.

“There’s some leftovers,” said Naruto, he then turned to look suspiciously at his son, “You didn’t go see that movie about me did you? I thought you wanted it to bomb?”

“I got dragged along with my friends, there was a nice amount of bribing involved,” said Boruto as he placed a plate of food into the microwave. He then went and sat at the table across from his father and put his head on his folded arms.

“Was it good?” asked Naruto, “I’m going to avoid seeing any of it, it’s too strange seeing your life acted out in front of you, especially if a lot of it is wrong. They were trying to get me to do some promo for it, but no thanks. And there’s stuff, I don’t want to relive. Trust me, once was a enough.”

Boruto internally winced, thinking his dad would like to relive his early childhood the least. “Unfortunately it was great. I bet there will be plenty of sequels,” said Boruto forlornly.

“Is that why you sound so miserable? Because you watched a good movie?” Naruto was tentative in his asking, knowing too much prodding could easily chase his preteen son off.

Boruto peeked up at his dad from his folded arms and chewed his bottom lip, not sure how to broach the subject. But he needed to know what was the truth and what was exaggeration, “Well there was this one scene in the movie I can’t stop thinking about.”

“Okay, what kind of scene?”

“It showed you when you were uh, little.”

Naruto’s mouth slightly gaped in realization before snapping shut. “Ah” he said, looking at his son with a soft smile, “It wasn’t a very happy scene, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t,” said Boruto, and to his horror, his eyes started to well with tears. He ducked his face back into his folded arms. “Did you really get treated like that? By the villagers?” the boy asked in a muffled, shaking voice.

“I mean, I’d have to watch the scene to know if it was accurate, but yeah. It was pretty bad. They were mostly scared, Boruto. I contained the monster who had killed their family and friends, they didn’t see me as a little boy.”

“That doesn’t make it okay,” said Boruto with a sniff.

“No, no it doesn’t,” agreed Naruto. Boruto was slightly shaking now and Naruto stood up and walked around the table, “Hey. what’s all this? It happened a long time ago, buddy.” The man pulled a chair up to his son, and sat down, putting an arm around the boy. Boruto turned to smother his face into his father’s orange jacket, hiding his tears.

“It’s just not fair, you do so much, and they treated you so badly,” said Boruto with a choked voice. “Did they only start treating you right after you became a hero?”

Naruto rubbed his hand up and down his son’s arm, “Yeah, I suppose, and I struggled with that too. I had to overcome some darkness to get where I am today. But I’m not Hokage just to repay the village, Bolt. I do it so I can protect those who are precious to me. I had people who stood their ground and saw me as a person, not a monster. People like Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei and your mom and your Aunt Sakura and Uncle Sasuke. Heh, they might not have liked me much in the beginning but they didn’t see me as a demon. They are precious to me, and the people who did me wrong are precious to someone too.”

“I just don’t think they deserve all the work you do for them,” said Boruto into the orange fabric, “You work so hard for people who called you those _awful_ things.” 

“It’s not about deserving. I deserved better, I know, and no kid deserves a childhood like that. But all I can do now is make sure other kids didn’t grow up like that. That no other children have to lose their parents in another senseless war. And look at me now, huh? I did pretty well for myself, didn’t I?” said Naruto, patting his son’s arm.   

“Do you ever get sad about it still? Remembering?”

“I get sad thinking that I didn’t get to experience growing up with your grandparents, that maybe they could’ve taught me stuff that would’ve made me a better dad to you and your sister,” said Naruto wistfully, “But I don’t know who I would be today if I had grown up the respected son of the Fourth Hokage, maybe I wouldn't have you guys. Then it wouldn’t be worth it.”

Boruto blinked teary eyes up at his father, the orange jacket still clutched in his hands, “Really?”

“Yeah, Bolt. I guess, that’s why my life makes a good movie, you know? Sad beginning, very happy ending,” said Naruto with a smile, closing his eyes and hugging his son tight.

The microwave had since beeped and Naruto pulled away from his son, smoothing back the boy’s wild blonde hair, “Now eat some dinner, and hey Boruto? Didn’t you get a new racing game the other day?”

Boruto blinked, climbing up from his chair to retrieve his food, “Uh yeah, I haven’t gotten the chance to play it yet.”

“How about I help you break it in, you up to the challenge?” said Naruto as he went to gather up the scrolls.

“What about your work?”

“Eh, Shikamaru will fill me in on what I need to know, it’ll be fine. Now eat up so you don’t lose on an empty stomach,” said Naruto teasingly, going to pack the scrolls away into his bag.

Boruto laughed, digging into the leftovers, “As if, old man!”

The next morning, Hinata would arrive home with Himawari in tow to find her boys laid out in the TV room, asleep on the couch in their pajamas. Naruto leaning back against the arm of the couch, his head at an uncomfortable angle and Boruto snuggled into his father’s side. Hinata smiled fondly as she placed a blanket around them, happy that her husband’s meeting wasn’t until later and her son was free from missions for the day. She was just so happy to see that their relationship was continuing to improve. She backed out of the room quietly, shushing her daughter and leaving the boys to get their rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on twitter @emmaweebinout for more Naruto and Boruto thoughts if you wanna 
> 
> Any future films featuring Sasuke could be even more awkward, poor Sarada. But I didn't want to go into that because I don't know how much she knows about her father's time as a missing-nin. 
> 
> Also the idea that the filmmakers would include scenes from Naruto's childhood is pretty horrific BUT it's just what gross ass Hollywood film producers would do. Remember in Ninjas Clash in the Land of Snow? How the director would do anything for a shot? Yeah the director of this film would milk stuff like that too. It makes Naruto's story more compelling. Also SWING SHOT. CUE THE SWING. CUE THE SAD FLUTE. So yeah, I just imagine some middle-aged villagers weeping over that scene, being like "Oh no why didn't anyone help that poor baby?" when they themselves had turned away from him.


End file.
